Is Gustav Forsling A Bust?

Is Gustav Forsling A Bust?

While the Chicago Blackhawks will be looking to land some offensive help this offseason, their priority definitely needs to be the blueline.

Long gone are the days of Duncan Keith, Brent Seabrook, Niklas Hjalmarsson, Nick Leddy and Johnny Oduya combining to be the best blueline in the league. Only Keith and Seabrook remain from that group and there's plenty of question marks surrounding the two.

The answer might be through trade or the free agent market, or it might be within the organization.

The curious case of Gustav Forsling.

Every time Forsling looks like he's dug up himself a spot on the Hawks roster, he finds himself in the AHL once again.

"I don't look at it as a negative," GM Stan Bowman said last week. "We just want to make sure that he's still playing that confident all-around game as opposed to just surviving at the NHL level. We could have kept him up all year and he probably would have just simplified his game. ... But we don't want him to do that."

"He's got the savvy of how to break plays up. But he's (also) got the feet, the hands, the shot, and he can make plays up the ice. A player has to be able to do that if they're going to be in the top four. They can't just be a defensive guy.

"He's got that. It's just a matter of putting it all together."

Do you think Forsling is ready to make the jump full time to the NHL next year?